


we're gonna rattle this ghost town

by danlester (isaacmclahey)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, High School AU, M/M, alcohol tw, it started off with a prompt and it got out of hand lol, swearing tw, tooth rotting fluff cw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:43:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6847555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isaacmclahey/pseuds/danlester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the prompt was “i use morse code to talk to my friend during class but it turns out you know morse code too and now you know that i think you have a cute butt” au EXCEPT i went way overboard bcs lbr its me</p>
            </blockquote>





	we're gonna rattle this ghost town

**Author's Note:**

> i originally put this on my tumblr (danielljameshowell) and it went well so here u go ao3

Geography A-Level was the worst idea Dan had ever had. He’d had some seriously questionable ones, but he felt this was pretty up there in terms of stupidity. 

Yeah, sure, it was probably an easy(ish) grade, but good God was it dull.

The only main highlight was listening to the two people on the row behind him tap little conversations in morse code. They’d kind of developed a code within the morse code, but Dan had been listening for a month and a half now, so kind of understood what was happening despite the extra problem; it was generally only shortening names to initials, using slang, etc., so it wasn’t too hard to pick up.

However, on this particular morning, Dan was not feeling the eavesdropping; whilst he hadn’t exactly drunk a lot the night before, some friends had convinced him have a few, so the pulsing drone in his head was sounding a lot worse than it should do at 9:02 on a Friday morning, the whirring of the projector fan pushing him almost to the edge.

It was also the start of double Geography.

As the lesson began, there was a brief lecture before the class descended into silence to work, and it only took a few minutes for the quiet tapping to begin.

The pair weren’t stupid; loud tapping would have drawn immediate attention, so they used the rubber ends of their pencils against the desk, softly, so that the other could hear, but practically no one else. Although this was not including Dan, who was sat right in front of them. 

(Not that they knew that, of course).

Slowly, the tapping started to build, and Dan began to regret knowing the language at all, the words filtering into his brain almost before he could stop them, even though he was trying to concentrate on his paragraph. He only knew it because he’d been an overeager Cub Scout who’d learnt the entire thing by heart, which he thought might be a useful life skill. 

This wasn’t really what he would have deemed ‘useful’.

**k said u got with s on sat?**

Phil initiated the conversation this time, as Dan tried to write a paragraph on the ageing UK population, gritting his teeth to ignore the dots and dashes entering his brain at quickfire speed. 

yh it was stupid tho  
**dont u like her?**  
yh but she just wanted to experiment

The words filtered in with the gossip, but Dan didn’t really know their group of friends, so it wasn’t a massive achievement. He knew Aadhya vaguely because she was fairly outspoken in their English Literature lessons, but he didn’t have a solid friendship with her, and Phil was even more of a mystery. 

**sorry a. mayb next time?**  
mayb. we suck at being gay  
**ik. we should start a club**

Well, this was new.

Dan would never have said by looking at them that they were gay, either of them, but then he supposed that no-one would think the same about him. Maybe the gays were hidden everywhere and he just didn’t know it. 

dh is looking gd today anyway  
**yh his butt looks rly gd in those jeans**

After a few seconds, Dan stopped writing. 

DH was him, right?

He quickly ran through everyone else in the class, and the people he knew in the years group, but he was the only DH he could think of. 

Well, that’s an ego booster. 

But they continued on a different route after that, eventually tailing off to actually write their paragraphs, but the words still stuck in his mind; the way they said it sounded casual, like this was common talk. Did they talk about him often?

His headache was still thumping in his brain, rattling all the important bits of information until they were blurry.

They had started again, instead now asking who had frees next, and suddenly he couldn’t stand the noise anymore.

Using his black biro, letting the harsh tap ring out in the room like theirs never did, he spelt out two words. 

… …. ..- - ..- .–.  
s h u t u p

Almost immediately, he realised he’d given away his secret, but he couldn’t really be bothered to care.

Radio silence.

Gratefully, Dan continued with his work, the words on the page blurring into meaning, and double geography began to crawl by again, the lecture lesson making him want to claw his eyes out, but he managed to get through it. 

When he was finally released into the cool corridor, after the torturous stuffy classroom, he made his way to the common room, grateful now that he had two frees before lunch, then English Lit. His group of friends were like an oddball bunch that had bonded over theatre, and he loved them all even though they were a bit mad.

“Alright, mate?” Jack asked as he sat down, and Dan gave him A Look.

“Yeah, double Geography was a right laugh with a hangover. Thanks.”

Merely grinning, Jack patted him on the back and turned back to the homework on the table in front of him, taking this as a victory.

However, instead of joining him in working, Dan just put his head in his chin and stared out the window; he was thinking about Phil Lester, and the way he spoke about him. 

In his years at school, Dan had probably communicated with Phil most in year 7, when everyone was scared and new and needed as many friends as possible. They’d been in the same form, and had sat together most mornings for the year, but when they’d swapped rooms at the end of the year, everyone moved to sit with their then-established friends. Even at 11, Phil had been kind, which Dan always really appreciated in people; his gentle nature was often something he was ashamed of, so it was refreshing to see it so boldly in someone else. They had never really stopped being friends, but they were probably more acquaintances; friends on Facebook, but they wouldn’t sit with each other at lunch or anything. 

Phil was definitely cute; he had the dramatic MySpace eyes and fringe, and Dan had always admired his band shirts from afar, but he never felt like it was something they could bond over. Maybe it was?

Before he could think about it any more, the man of the hour walked through the door, heading towards his group on the other side of the room with a hot chocolate from the machine and throwing his bag down on the floor dramatically. Not realising that he was staring, Dan only turned around after Jack smacked him several times in the arm. 

When he eventually turned around, Dan played it off as zoning out, and raised his eyebrows at Jack’s insistence. 

“What?”

“Uh, Earth to Planet Daniel?” Jack said sarcastically, but he looked slightly suspicious. “The others are just coming from the music block now. You wanna go into town for lunch?”

“Sounds good.” Dan stretched, enforcing the casual/hungover mood he was trying to put out. “Wagamamas or Nandos?”

“Dunno. I think it’s Hazel’s turn to choose.”

“Kay.”

There was a few moments of silence as Dan pulled out his phone, before Jack broke the unspoken rule of Not Pushing It.

“Who were you staring at?” He asked, packing up his items with feigned nonchalance.

“What? Oh, no one. Zoned out.”

“Yeah, no, seriously.”

“I am serious.” Dan said, with too much force, and instantly knew he’d blown it. “Damn it.”

But Jack showed no signs of relenting, and simply waited, his stuff now piled neatly, ready to be thrown in the bag when the others got to them.

“Can we please not do this here?” 

“Tomorrow at Dean’s?” Jack raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently for Dan’s response, knowing that if he didn’t reply then it would be blown way out of proportion, and in public. 

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

  
They ended up getting Wagamamas.

—

Dean’s house was weirdly full of people that evening, a lot more than Dan had expected. Normally they just got together and had a few drinks, but this week Dean had apparently invited more people. 

However, Dan had already done a few shots with Louise before he got here, so it wasn’t really that noticeable to him. The room seemed the slightest bit fuller, though.

As they sat down on the edge of the room, crowded around one of the sofas and basically ignoring the people on the other one, Dan accepted a drink handed to him by Jack, and knew that this night was going to get really shit if Jack remembered the conversation they had yesterday.

So, in the hope he could put it off indefinitely, he moved the conversation onto something else; this year’s Reading festival. 

“God, if Muse don’t say they’re going to perform, my ticket’ll be worthless.”

“Drama queen.” Louise shot back, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol though with her make-up still perfectly in tact. “It’ll be fun either way. Which of you are going?”

“Me, Dan, Dean, Dodes and Hannah, as far as I know.” Jack said, seemingly allowing Dan to fly under the radar on their unspoken agreement. “Yeah, it should be good. I just can’t get too pissed, cos the radio wants a summary on the show on Tuesday, and I gotta give ‘em something.”

“Rather than ‘uhh, vodka, some weird guys with haircuts playing terribly, MUSE, then some girl with a lot of hair and big tits’?” Dan suggested, forgetting that Jack had something to hold over him, and laughing along with everyone else. 

Unfortunately, that was the moment Dan spotted Phil. 

Literally mid-laugh, he stopped and stared, the emo fringe cutting into his brain in a flash of sharpness, before trying to reoccupy himself with something, and failing. Immediately, Hazel asked if he was okay, but he simply said “Beer tasted weird” and that he needed to “get some air” before barrelling out of the room at top speed. 

In hindsight, it was kind of dramatic, but that’s what Dan was working with for the evening, on top of several shots of vodka. 

In truth, seeing Phil sat on the other sofa in Dean’s lounge shouldn’t have surprised Dan at all; Jack was a total arsehole when it came to these things, so had almost definitely invited the entire group Dan had been staring at on Friday in case they could trigger a reaction from Dan. 

Fucking bastard. 

Truth was, Dan hadn’t stopped thinking about Phil for 48 hours, and it was driving him insane. 

At lunch on Friday, whilst waiting for their orders, Dan had pulled up Phil’s Facebook and had scrolled through right through to the end, finding dumb status updates from 2011 that had ‘xD’ and ‘0_o’ in them, and Dan couldn’t help but become a little obsessed with them. 

Since then, he’d gone home and found all of Phil’s social media, laughing at dumb tweets until 4am that morning and not even caring when he had a headache for work that morning. 

Even seeing his profile picture stirred something in Dan he almost didn’t want to confront, and blue eyes had watched him as he tried to focus on literally anything else throughout the day; every time he had a moment to himself, he started to think about Phil.

It was fucking sickening, and Dan knew it was probably only a fleeting obsession; this all stemmed from Phil simply saying he had a nice arse, for Christ’s sake. 

Anyway, that was without the random dramatic exit, so now the whole group knew something was up, and Jack had probably just narrowed down drastically the number of available people. But God, seeing Phil sat there in his skinny jeans and his perfect fringe, laughing with his tongue peeking out, the alcohol giving him almost an ethereal glow- or maybe that was just Dan. 

Cold air hit Dan in the face as he pushed the front door open and half-stumbled into the tiny front garden, throwing himself on the grass in front of a bush, so he was hidden from the house, but was close enough to hear the door open. Music was pumping from an open window, softly but insistently, calming Dan a little, but keeping the pressure in his brain buoyant. 

Dan’s treacherous thoughts crawled back to Phil, and the pinkness of his lips; the red of his shirt looked great on him, highlighting the starkness of his hair and skin, together with his piercingly kind eyes. God, boys are so dangerous. 

“Dan?”

It was Jack. 

“I’m afraid Dan is not available right now. Please leave a message after the beep.”

Snorting, Jack threw himself down next to Dan on the grass, his curiosity obviously not satisfied. 

Grass threaded itself through his fingers and the dirt grazed his nails as Dan lay there, in a moment of total self-removal. Thankfully, the pair settled into silence, listening to the music behind them, and Dan couldn’t help but wish to be able to see the stars: fuck smog. 

It wasn’t that the group didn’t know Dan liked boys; they’d seen him practically shag a guy against a wall at a concert venue a couple of months back, and he’d never really kept it under wraps, but at the same time they didn’t really talk about it. He’d had two girlfriends, which has been nice, but he hadn’t massively enjoyed the physical side; sure, biology and all that, but he wasn’t too fussed about that part with girls - the relationship was more important for him there.

But now he- liked someone? And he hadn’t done that since he was about 12, and his priorities had been very different. 

“Dan?”

“Hm?” He’d been completely zoned out, but he kind of didn’t want to know what Jack asked anyway. Probably something frustratingly perceptive. 

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dan replied, quickly, “Just being melodramatic, as usual.”

“Sure.” Jack said, entirely unconvinced, but he continued after a moment, “Look, Dan, which one is it?” 

“Can we please just let it go? It’ll all be forgotten about by Monday.” 

“Or maybe it won’t.”

“It will.” Dan said, insistently, letting the cool grass slide through his fingers, “I swear, it’s temporary. I just want it to stop.”

“Why?” 

“Cause it’s fucking annoying.” Dan murmured, regretting the vodka’s firm unscrewing of his tongue in this moment in particular. “It’s been very fast, and it’s not real.”

Jack was quiet, waiting to see if Dan would say anything else. But he didn’t. 

“Well, do you not want it to happen?” He prodded, gently. 

“I don’t know.”

“I think it’s called being lithromantic?”

“No, no, it’s not that. I don’t think.” Dan breathed out deeply. “I don’t fucking know. Maybe it is.”

The fear he had about seeing Phil again was overwhelming; he’d obsessed over him for 36 hours, and now he was here. 

“I just wasn’t expecting to see him here, that’s all.”

And there it was; the ‘he’ part was out there. 

But Jack stayed quiet; Dan’s nerves skyrocketed into the smog filled sky, smothering the stars with no remorse. 

“Phil Lester?”

“Mm.” 

“Never would have guessed.” His voice was sincere. 

Letting out the breath he’d been holding, Dan felt the oxygen come back into his brain again, and he finally turned to face Jack. 

“Is it going to be really obvious when I go back in?”

Immediately struck by how vulnerable Dan’s eyes were, Jack felt the need to make it up to him, feeling a tiny bit guilty now. However, if he could make something of this evening, maybe it would be worth it. 

He’d never seen Dan in this state, even with his two girlfriends. It was unnerving. 

“Nah. Just say you thought you were going to be sick, then get over there and say hi to him.”

“I’m never sick.”

“First time for everything.”

Trying to keep his grumbling under wraps, Dan allowed himself a few more moments staring at the sky before he sat up, groaning at the ache in his back as he did so. 

“Right, you scheming bastard, I’m gonna need a few more drinks first.”

“Fine by me.” He grinned, and accepted Dan’s hand up, his solid weight and warm hand reassuring Dan when not much else could. The house they were in front of was a cutesy one, with flowerpots on the windowsills - and a doorframe Dan had to duck slightly to get into - but it felt safe as they entered, despite the possible dangers it could present them. 

After they pushed the unlocked door open and wandered down the hallway, they parted ways - Jack heading into the living room, and Dan peeling into the kitchen, hoping to get a couple of shots in before he had to put his mask back on. 

No such fucking luck.

“Hey Dan, you alright?”

Phil. 

Dan knew he looked a mess; his hair was all ruffled from the grass, his eyes were probably still glazed from the alcohol, and his clothes were ‘artfully’ skewed even before he threw himself on the floor. All he needed was 5 minutes to collect himself, but apparently the universe couldn’t even give him that. 

“Er, hey.” 

The kitchen was empty, save for Phil, and - what looked like - a hundred and two bottles on the counter. Harsh white was reflected in all the surfaces, and it was almost overwhelming for Dan’s sensitive eyes, except he hoped that if he kept blinking it might all go away.

“You alright?” Phil repeated, slower this time, his eyebrows furrowing a little in concern. 

“Yeah, yeah sure.” Dan replied, realising he was stood like a gormless prat and moved towards the vodka bottle on the side. “Just getting a drink.”

As he moved, though, it hit him that he was going to have to squeeze past Phil in the tiny kitchen if he wanted the alcohol, so paused, and asked him instead. 

“Could you pass me the vodka?”

Still looking a little concerned, Phil nodded and turned around, passing Dan the bottle with ease. Carefully, Dan took it from him (avoiding skin contact) and placed it on the counter beside him, pulling some plastic shot glasses from a box on the floor that seemed to hold an innumerable amount of cups. 

“You wanna do some shots with me?” Dan asked, torn between kind-of hoping Phil would say no, but also kind-of hoping he’d say yes. Fingers hovered over the stack of tiny plastic cups as Dan waited for Phil’s response, who was clearly deliberating whether it was worth it, before nodding and putting down his red cup on the counter behind him, presuming someone else would pick it up later. 

The kitchen was long and awkwardly thin, so Phil was close enough to see Dan’s hands shake as he poured the shots, giving them two each to start with, but he didn’t say anything. 

“To our health?” He joked, weakly, reaching around Dan to the nearest shot and smiling at Dan as he did it. 

For a few moments, Dan allowed himself to smile back unadulterated, and lose himself a little in those eyes. Before he got too lost, however, he yanked himself out again. 

“To our health.” He repeated. “And not throwing up tomorrow morning.”

Phil giggled at that - instantly melting Dan’s heart - before tipping his head back and necking the shot. 

Following suit, Dan felt the burn of vodka in his throat, but he was so used to it that it barely bothered him, and he relished the feeling of it sitting in his stomach. Slowly, his hands had stopped shaking - had it been cold outside? - and he passed Phil the next shot confidently, trying to focus on not panicking when their fingers brushed on the tiny cup. 

His hands were smooth and pale, and Dan was certain he could stare at them forever; link his tan ones through them and create a weaving, contrasting pattern. Instead, he just let go when Phil had a good grip, and downed his second shot, not waiting to see if Phil had done the same, and closed his eyes as he swallowed it, in the hope that when he opened them, Phil would still be here. 

_Blue eyes._

Of course he hadn’t gone anywhere. 

Dan smiled at Phil before putting his cup down on the counter and sighing, a little relieved. 

“Much better.”

“Uh, do you wanna talk about it?” Phil asked, cautiously but sincerely, and Dan was ready to stab this bloody boy with a butter knife because he was just too fucking kind. 

“No, no, I’m fine, just trying to make tomorrow’s hangover worth it.” He wasn’t really sure what to say next - should he bring up his Facebook stalking, and ask how Phil enjoyed Jamaica in 2011?

“What, so you weren’t outside throwing up just now?” Phil joked back, leant against the kitchen side about two feet from Dan and grinning, the alcohol getting ready to kick in.

“What?!” Dan instantly retorted, “I was not. I’m never sick.”

“Fine, fine, I believe you.” He clearly did not believe Dan. 

“I’m not! I just didn’t feel good.” He grumbled back, but his heart was beating steadily in his chest, reminding him he’s supposed to be nervous, “I stand by the fact that Louise spiked my drink.”

“Wouldn’t put it past her.” Phil grinned back, but clearly he had a lot more confidence after a few drinks, and held up the conversation like a champ. “Did I hear you’re going to Reading Festival this year?

“Yeah, yeah, should be good. You?”

“Yep,” He nodded, leaning against the counter and relaxing visibly, “I’m gonna be so pissed if Muse say they’re not going, though.”

“Oh my god, same.” Dan lamented, so glad he was finally understood by someone else, his hands gesticulating immediately, unable to stop himself. “I mean, they’re, like, half the reason I bought the bloody ticket, they could at least show up to play.”

“Yeah, true. What’s your favourite song?”

They chattered back and forth about music for a while - finally having a use for their extensive tastes in random genres. After ten minutes, though, when Dan had finally lost himself in the conversation, Dodie came in, staring a little at their interaction, but then proceeded to ‘shoo’ them out the kitchen, complaining that they were taking up too much space. 

Reluctantly - unsure as what to do next but still wanting to keep up the conversation - the pair edged out of the room, and then reached the hallway.

The only way out from here was into the lounge, or up the stairs, and Dan wasn’t particularly keen on either of those.

As if reading his mind, Phil pointing to their left: outside. 

Surprise was clear on Dan’s face, but he nodded, and followed Phil out, making sure the door was on the latch before he swung it shut behind him. 

Suddenly realising that they were alone, Dan took a shuddering breath, carefully following Phil to a patch of grass on the opposite side to the one he’d been on 15 minutes prior, gently sitting down next to the raven-haired boy. 

“So, Dan.” Phil reopened the conversation, leaning back on his elbows and letting his easy smile dominate his features. “If there’s any time to confess your deepest, darkest secrets, it’s now.”

Dan had been so used to the quiet, shy Phil that this new, confident one was almost overwhelming. For a few moments, he just stared before saying:

“You first.”

At first, Dan was joking, but Phil took a few moments, and then sighed a little. 

“I guess my biggest secret was my sexuality, but it’s not really much of a secret anymore.”

“Me neither.” Dan didn’t even feel worried as the words slipped out, but Phil looked surprised when he faced him, his expression a question he wasn’t sure how to ask. “I don’t really know about the specifics, but yeah. Everyone’s hot, basically.”

“Same.” He replied, after a moment, his eyes caught on Dan’s lips. “Well,” He looked back at the sky, “Mainly guys.”

“Yeah, I feel you.”

After a moment of silence-

“Anyway, what’s your biggest secret, then? Or regret? Gimme something deep.”

“Mm,” Dan made a pensive noise, thinking about everything in his life objectively, with the help of an additional injection of alcohol. “Probably regret applying for Law. Getting involved in the whole law thing, really.”

“What do you really wanna do?” 

By now, Phil turned onto his side, facing Dan, about a foot and a half away, the lack of stars in the sky making up for the dozen in his irises.

“Act.” Dan said, and immediately regretted it. “Which is really stupid, I know. I’ll be constantly broke and I’m nowhere near good enough.”

“Don’t say that.” Phil hit back, instantly. “You can do anything you put your mind to. Weren’t you Benvolio in the school play last year?”

“Don’t remind me. I never hear the end of it.” Dan was only half-joking. 

“Hey, you were good! And the costume didn’t look half bad either.”

“Mm.” The costume had looked pretty cool. “They made me keep my natural hair though, I hate it like that.”

Phil shrugged, which was kinda hard to do when lying on top of one shoulder, but he managed it. 

“It was nice to see a bit of the real you in there.”

What the fuck did Dan say to that? All he wanted to do was grab Phil by the shirt and kiss him, but that was a bit forward for the situation at hand. 

“The real me was never hidden.” Dan let his teeth run over his bottom lip slowly, his heart pounding with anticipation as he watched Phil’s eyes catching the movement. The cool air was chilling him slowly, dusting over his skin like whisper-soft feathers. 

“No, I guess not.”

Both of them were staring at each other unashamedly, the alcohol soaring in their veins, twisting and turning in the current of nitrogen and oxygen. 

“Do you think we should head inside?” Dan asked, terrified of the answer but also petrified of the alternative. 

“We can if you want.” The reluctance in Phil’s voice was undeniable. 

Dan shook his head.

And from there, they fell. 

They fell into easy conversation, gossiping about their peers and celebrities, comparing opinions on films, music, clothes, everything. At one point, after about an hour, Phil went in the house to pee, and got the bottle of vodka on the way back out, picking up some glasses. This led to them lazily taking shots as another hour dripped by, laughter getting more and more frequent until they were giggling uncontrollably, sat cross-legged opposite each other on the floor and feeling almost transcendent. 

Still, no-one disturbed them. 

“I cannot- believe-” Dan was laughing so much he was leant forward, hand on Phil’s knee, his thumb rubbing gently back and forth out of instinct. “You were in a film?!”

“Yep. The tiniest role imaginable.” Shining eyes were all Dan could focus on, and he gently stretched his legs out so his right leg was slightly hooked under Phil’s bent one. Phil’s face as he spoke was so fucking captivating. “And I might be on the Weakest Link in summer, but they’re gonna get back to me in May about it.” 

“That’s so cool.” Dan mused in response, his drunken mind deciding to reach out and link his fingers through Phil’s, using the hand that was previously on his knee. The contrast between their skin was just how he imagined it would be. “What made you think to do that?”

But Phil didn’t move on so quickly; he was staring at the intertwined hands in a curious way. Sure, they were both kinda tipsy, and Dan could get affectionate as hell when tipsy, but this was new for Phil in terms of what to expect, and he didn’t want to let it slide lightly. 

He swallowed and looked back up at Dan, his voice faltering a little. 

“I guess I did it because I didn’t want to regret it. I- I didn’t want to let a chance to do something incredible slip through my fingers.”

And for a few seconds, those whispered words hung in the air like pregnant raindrops, waiting for the trigger to fall: and the moment came. 

“Are you going to kiss me, then?” The catch in Dan’s voice was painfully noticeable.

Surprise was the only way he could describe the look on Phil’s face.  
  
“I mean, I can’t say it’ll be incredible-” He began again, fully prepared to dig himself out of the hole and he’d gotten himself into, but Phil’s fingers on his jawline stopped him, grazing nerves that made Dan inhale sharply; his eyes slid shut, unable to process so many senses at once. 

Soft lips pressed against his, slightly off target, and Dan reciprocated immediately, shuffling so that he was more stable, and then sliding his other hand onto Phil’s thigh, so that he was knelt up on his knees. 

Vodka and cheap beer was all they could taste, but the eagerness behind it pulled Dan in like a moth to a flickering flame; they continued slowly and gently until Phil had to reshuffle as well, the cramp in his leg no longer being worth it. As they gently broke apart, Phil let out a long, shaky breath of disbelief, staring at Dan with an expression of wonderment and apprehension. Their hands had now unlinked - they had needed their palms to steady the weight imbalance - so now one hand was on Dan’s face and the other on his waist, but Phil didn’t even seem to notice. 

Licking his lips and looking down at Dan’s waist - which was now right in front of him, their knelt knees awkwardly interlocked - Phil asked-

“Dan, I really hate to ask but… What does this mean?”

“Uh,” That wasn’t what Dan expected, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a go at replying, even with 7 vodka shots swimming around. “I don’t know. I- I guess, it’s something I enjoyed, and might like to do again? A bit more regularly?”

“Like, a hookup?” He looked achingly disappointed, and the tug on Dan’s heart that resulted could have destroyed several buildings with its severity. 

“No-” Dan blurted out, but reigned himself in quickly, twisting some of Phil’s hair through his fingers. “No, I mean, like, dates. Where we go and do stuff, and get to know each other better. If you want to.”

“Why?”

“Fuck, Phil, I don’t know.” Dan untwisted his hands from Phil, not intentionally, but so that he could readjust and lie down instead, gently tugging on Phil’s hand so that he would copy him. Whilst Phil complied, it was obviously a reluctant gesture, and Dan just wanted to hug him until the sun came up, but the kiss had sobered him up enough that he knew the situation needed reconciling first. 

Gently, slowly, he reached out - now lying opposite Phil in the tufty grass - and traced his jaw with a long, tan finger. 

“You’re cool.” He said, eventually, when Phil had just about given up hope on a response, “You like the same music as me, the same films, you’re funny, and pretty and gay. I really want to know you more, but if you don’t want to do it in that way, or at all, I understand.”

Phil was quiet, but nodded, his hand that was weaved into Dan’s finally squeezing back, and his breath evening out the way it should. 

“So, is that a yes?” Dan asked, hesitantly after a about half a minute of silence, not wanting to push Phil, but at the same time wanting to know whether his tipsy-ass brain had actually managed to do something brilliant. (It’d never done that before)

He felt Phil’s finger adjust in their hand-hold mess, and he realised that the strokes with his finger were morse code. 

Fucking nerd. 

-.– . …  
Y E S

The bubble in Dan’s chest could have exploded. 

“Nerd.” 

“Hey,” Phil lightly protested, now grinning, his eyes crinkled up, “It takes two people to communicate in morse code.”

The way he said it reopened the ache in Dan’s chest, and he couldn’t help but kiss Phil again, this time a little less gentle, but still holding him as delicately as possible. 

Of course this - of all fucking times - was when Dan’s phone started to ring. 

It was a toss up between it being Jack, Louise or his mum. 

Detaching himself from Phil a little - in order to slide his phone out of his back pocket - and checking the lit-up screen, Dan groaned. 

Jack  
ACCEPT / DECLINE

“Bastard.” He pressed accept. “What?”

“Nice to hear from you too, babe.” Jack slurred, before giggling a lot, obviously find this situation hilarious. “Where are youuuuu?”

“Depends what you want me for.” Dan replied, fighting the urge to just say ‘outside’. Phil’s breath was so warm against his neck that he just about wanted to do nothing at all for the next three hours. 

“We’re going. Getting picked up. Seriously-” Jack had a little difficulty with this word, but he moved past it. “Soon. Twenty minutes.”

“Kay. See you then.” 

Dan sighed and hung up the phone, his hand slipping it back into his pocket, and then moving back to cup Phil’s face. 

“I don’t want to go.” 

“Me neither.” Phil mirrored Dan’s sigh, “But they’re going to come out here soon.”

Humming agreement, Dan went back to kissing him enthusiastically, figuring that these 20 minutes had better be worth it. 

After half a minute, he made a decision, and he made it quick; he sat up, and swung his leg over Phil’s, the alcohol making him cocky. Now, he was straddling Phil’s lap, using their linked hands to sit him up and loop his hands around Phil’s neck.

Phil seemed to get the message pretty quickly, and placed his broad hands on Dan’s hips, steadying him, and they continued to kiss, hands now wandering a little more than previously, and their crotches almost unbearable close. Slowly, Dan wound his fingers through Phil’s hair, tugging slightly as they added tongue to the fray, and letting the soft strands glide through his fingers with ease. 

They continued in this manner for at least 20 minutes, breaking occasionally to shift places or breathe a little, exchanging a few words before restarting, and losing themselves almost completely. 

By the time Jack finally came outside, they were both more than a little disheveled, but they’d agreed not to do anything else, seeing as they were in somebody else’s front garden, and it would be a tad inappropriate. 

Jack opened the door and stumbled out, followed by Hazel, and then stopped still, staring at Dan practically straddling Phil. 

“Hello.” He said, not even particularly suggestively, but mainly out of surprise.

Dan raised his eyebrows at him, relaxing into his position and waiting for Jack to say something: he did not. 

“Hi?” He replied, the question in his voice evident. “Are we off?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Kay.” Dan turned back to Phil, who was clearly a little unnerved by Jack’s presence, although he smiled broadly at Dan when their eyes met, trusting him enough for this. “I’ll text you?”

“Yeah.” Phil replied, as Dan kind of rolled off him, the alcohol making it much less awkward, and then accepted his offer of a hand up. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Mainly to weird Jack out, Dan kissed Phil gently, and squeezed his hand, before dropping it and following Jack out of the garden, waving dorkily as he left, and not even bothering to hide his uncontrollable smile. 

“So-” Jack started, but Dan just shook his head, cutting off any further communication. 

“You’ve had too much to drink.”

“It was quite impressive, really.” Hazel agreed, sliding her arm under Jack’s shoulder so that she could support him a little, “You should have seen him. Surprised he hasn’t thrown up yet.”

“Give it time, babe.” Jack then started to laugh, and they couldn’t get him to stop as they bundled him into his mum’s car, both Hazel and Dan apologizing profusely about his state. 

“No problem, no problem-” Jack’s mother insisted, ignoring her son’s dramatic proclamations of love from the passenger seat. “So, did you guys have fun tonight?”

It was then that Dan’s phone buzzed, and he just knew it was from Phil. 

“Yeah, it was pretty great, thanks.” He replied, ignoring Hazel’s eye roll or the curious glance Jack’s mum flicked at him through the mirror. 

He pulled his phone out, and the smile returned in it’s slow, winding way. 

**Phil 23:51**  
**-. . .-. -..**

N E R D.

This was going to be the start of something kind of amazing.

**Author's Note:**

> me: writes about phan doing a levels to procrastinate my own a level exams that start in 3 weeks  
> me @ me: why do u do this to urself


End file.
